“We also expect that terrorists will make more use of modern plastic explosives. These are much more powerful than traditional explosives like dynamite and TNT. And they are much more difficult to detect with current technology.”

Paul Bremer III, Ambassador at Large for counter-Terrorism

On November 22 1988 , the British Department of Transport issued its own warning, which provided a further detailed description of the bomb built by PFLP-GC member Marwan Khreesat.

In March 1989, the Transport Minister came under attack in Parliament for withholding from the public Government warnings sent to airlines.

The Federal Aviation Administration in Washington circulated a similar bulletin to American airlines on Nov. 18, Fred Farrar, a spokesman for the agency in Washington, said.

But the British Transport Department acknowledged for the first time in March 1989 that it had issued an alert by telex to British airlines and airports on Nov. 22 1988.